Winona County Board of Adjustment approves variance for private access road, adds county-engineer approval condition

The Winona County Board of Adjustment voted 3–2 to approve a variance for Construction Ventures (doing business as Bizonstone) that allows a proposed private access road across portions of the Bluffland Overlay District, adding a condition that the county engineer must approve erosion-control measures and road construction specifications.

Planning staff told the board the petition (BOA 121924, number 1) covers three parcels totaling about 365 acres and would create a roughly 3,000-foot access road with a finished 25-foot driving width. Staff said the applicants estimate about 3,000 cubic yards of cutting and roughly 21,000 cubic yards of fill, and that the project would require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDS) construction stormwater permit and a conditional interim use permit (CUP) before work could begin. "There are 2 conditions drafted in the findings for you to consider as well," planning staff Olivia told the board during the presentation.

The petitioners presented engineering plans prepared by Johnson & Schofield and said the alignment follows existing field and logging roads where feasible. Petitioner representative Jonathan Schwab said any prior work on the property was forestry work and not earthmoving: "So the only work that was done, just to clarify, was logging," he said, and added that the design team believed the county engineer’s erosion concerns were solvable.

Staff noted reviews from Winona County Soil & Water and the county engineer (identified in staff materials as Dave Kramer) that raised potential erosion and drainage issues along two steep sections of the proposed route; those comments informed the board’s discussion and the amendment the board adopted. Olivia also told members the planning commission would hear the related CUP later the same evening.

Board members split over whether the parcels were effectively "landlocked" and whether the sale of a parcel (the parcel ending in 0411 was sold in September 2024, staff said) justified a more extensive road through a protected overlay. Some members said a constructed, crowned and graveled road would be safer and easier to maintain than the existing dirt/field road; others emphasized the Bluffland Overlay’s purpose to limit development on steep slopes and the need to avoid creating longer-term erosion risk.

After debate, Board member Jordan moved to approve the variance "as written with the conditions that are attached." Board member Ed successfully moved to amend the motion to add a condition requiring county-engineer approval of road specifications and erosion-control measures; the board adopted the amendment and then approved the amended motion. The board chair read appeal rights and the 30-day window to seek district court review of the decision.

Next steps for the project include the planning commission’s review of the conditional interim use permit, finalization and county approval of the erosion and sediment control plan, and any required NPDS permit work by the applicant. The record shows the board approved the variance 3–2; the planning and permit processes remain required before construction may begin.